1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to RFID cards and more specifically it relates to an RFID remote antenna security system for preventing unauthorized reading of RFID cards.
2. Description of the Related Art
Any discussion of the related art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such related art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology utilizes radio waves to transfer data from an RFID chip to a reader. RFID technology is currently utilized to track various items such as inventory and assets. Recently, RFID technology is being utilized within carrier members such as credit cards to store and transfer sensitive data such as credit card data, personal data and the like.
There are three main types of RFID technology: active, semi-passive and passive. Active RFID chips utilize a battery to broadcast radio waves containing data. Semi-passive RFID chips utilize a smaller battery than active RFID chips to keep the RFID chip “awake” but still rely upon a reader to provide power for broadcasting radio waves. Passive RFID chips are completely reliant upon an external RFID reader to provide the power to broadcast radio waves containing the data. Active RFID chips can transmit radio waves that may be read at ranges of 300 feet or more. Passive RFID chips can transmit radio waves that may be read at ranges of 20 or more feet. Passive RFID chips are the most common RFID chip because of they are relatively inexpensive compared to active and semi-passive RFID chips.
Passive RFID chip systems have two main components: an RFID reader and an RFID chip. The RFID reader has a reader antenna that transmits radio waves that are received by an RFID antenna within the passive RFID chip. The radio waves received by the passive RFID chip are converted to electrical power and then used by the RFID chip to transmit radio waves containing data that are then detected by the RFID reader. The RFID reader then communicates the data received from the RFID chip via the radio waves to another device (e.g. computer) for processing.
Unfortunately, RFID chips, particularly passive RFID chips, are susceptible to unauthorized reading (a.k.a. “skimming”) where an unauthorized RFID reader communicates with the RFID chip by merely being in close proximity to the RFID chip. Important data such as credit card data and personal data may be lost to unscrupulous individuals via the unauthorized reading of RFID cards such as RFID credit cards. To make matters worse, RFID chips do not need to be physically seen to transmit the data contained on the RFID chip.
Because of the inherent problems with the related art, there is a need for a new and improved RFID remote antenna security system for preventing unauthorized reading of RFID chips.